The American Crow is a common bird throughout its range. They highly resemble the Fish Crow. The American is about 17.5” long. The Fish is about 15.5 inches long. That’s pretty close in size to differentiate them by sight alone. Another factor are their calls, but that is still similar. The American go “caw” and the Fish go “car” or “ca-ha.” Where ranges overlap, it would take some careful listening to crows to identify the right species. These are big birds. They are among our largest song birds (Passerines). The only one larger is the Common Raven at a whomping 2 feet long! That’s a far cry away from a chickadee which is also a songbird. Crows are highly intelligent. In one experiment, they were tested eating from a full container. They ate normally from the top. As the food ran lower in its level, the crow grabbed a stick and used it as a tool to grab more to eat. The ability to use tools is seen in only a few animals, primates being the most successful. I would love to see this ingenuity someday. They are also experts remembering individual people. They remember the good and bad of us. I suppose scarecrows don’t work in many instances because it just sits there and the crow doesn’t see them as threats. Well, that just my theory. Crow are amazing birds! Enjoy Our Great Outdoors!
A male Indigo Bunting
The male Indigo Bunting is absolutely beautiful. Its feathers act as prisms reflecting that amazing blue color. Without sunlight, the feathers are drab and dark colored. You can see these changes in the video. Feathers of this type are also present in other birds like hummingbirds, Wild Turkeys, and Mourning Doves too. The feathers seem almost metallic. Indigo Buntings are not related to bluebirds even though they are a blue bird. Bluebirds are actually in the thrush family which includes American Robins. Buntings are seed eaters. Their beaks are perfectly designed to eat small seeds. Putting out millet or commercial mixed-seed (which usually has millet and a couple other small seeds) will attract them for closer views. Their summer range is basically east of the Rockies. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, “It has occurred as a vagrant in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Serbia and the United Kingdom.” Enjoy Our Great Outdoors!
A male Baltimore Oriole
The Baltimore Oriole. Yeah. Just look at it. This is a male, identifiable because of those amazing orange feathers. The females have a lighter orange-yellow coloring. They are related to blackbirds, as can bee seen by their overall size, structure, and bill shape… and that’s were most of the similarities stop. Orioles love fruit but, like most songbirds, love insects. This one is eating suet. This is the first time I’ve seen one eat suet. But it makes sense to me because it is basically protein like insects. At this stage of the year around my neck-of-the-woods, insects are still not in large numbers for many birds to completely thrive on. Besides, this guy has made an incredibly long trip to get to my window. Orioles are commonly found in the summer across the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. However, they winter in Central and northern South America. That’s an incredibly long flight. Enjoy Our Great Outdoors!
A little treasure… and mystery. Enjoy Our Great Outdoors, my fellow nature detectives!
A little treasure… and mystery. Enjoy Our Great Outdoors, my fellow nature detectives!
A treasure in the woods… and a mystery. Enjoy Our Great Outdoors, my fellow nature detectives!
The Black-capped Chickadee is an incredibly familiar bird to any seed feeder. I think they are the best of any North American bird at finding food. They are so good at it that even other species of bird recognize their ability and will follow chickadees to food sources. In this video, we see a different feeder behavior than I’ve previous posted. When there are finches, or really anything else at the feeder, chickadees come in, grab one seed (black oil-type sunflower being the favorite of nearly any feeder bird), fly onto something sturdy, and peck away at it until the seed can be eaten. With no other animals at the feeder, we see a different behavior. It will sit and grab a seed and eat it right at the feeder. It’ll do this a few to several times before it decides to take off or is interrupted. To me, it seems to be because it doesn’t burn up as much energy this way. I often think that it must use so much valuable energy flying back and forth to the feeder. But feeling safe, alone at the feeder, is the reason why it zips away at other times. They make a number of calls. It’s namesake, “chickadee-dee-dee” is its most familiar one. I’ve included some references below regarding this call an others translating what they are saying or trying to accomplish. The pictures regarding the chickadee vocalizations are from the following source: Stokes Nature Guides, “A Guide to Bird Behavior Volume 1,” Iauthored by Donald Stokes. The map illustration is from Roger Tory Peterson’s “A Field Guide to the Birds East of the Rockies.” This species of chickadee is also the first bird I had ever hand tamed, and I’ve done it many times. “So, Paulie the Ranger, how can I hand tame on?” That’s a fantastic question. Here we go! Once a feed source is established, sit by the feeder. Stay there a few minutes or maybe do it for a while and come back the next day. Depending on their availability of food, they are far more likely to come to
